Eco-village planned in county

Planning of a new housing concept for those interested in green living and stronger community is under way in Ellis County.

Near the intersection of the Red Oak and Waxahachie city limits, Anderson Sargent Custom Builders is helping develop an eco-village on 75 acres west of Interstate 35.

The village is based loosely on a co-housing concept which began in Denmark in the late 1960s.

A co-housing community is a type of intentional community typically composed of private homes with full kitchens and supplemented by extensive common facilities.

Co-housing communities are planned, owned and managed by the residents who want more interaction with their neighbours.

Through community design and shared social and management activities, co-housing encourages interaction among neighbours, for both social and practical benefits.

There are also economic and environmental benefits to sharing resources.

While the development is loosely based around the co-housing concept, developer Jim Sargent said the village will differ in several ways.

“The way they form communities is by doing the design and work as they grow,” Sargent said. “It ends up being a five- to seven-year process. Our development will be much more developer driven. It’s a different type of development but we’re taking the best of the co-housing developments and implementing them in this concept.”

The co-housing concept was brought to the United States in 1994 and, according to co-hous-ing.org, three other co-housing developments are being formed in the area: one in Dallas, one in Fort Worth and one near DFW International Airport, yet none of the three developments have secured a location for future building.

Five other developments are also being planned or considered in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

“The land has been acquired for our development but I haven’t finished our plans quite yet,” Sargent said. “The land is being land-planned as we speak and we hope to build a village with seven clusters of homes, each with 30 homes per cluster.”

Sargent said the community house is expected to be around 10,000 square feet with each of the individual homes averaging around 1,200 square feet.

“Each owner will own their own home as well as a 30th of the common house,” developer Jim Sargent said. “The common house might be 10,000 square feet and have facilities that everyone can use. It’s similar in idea that instead of everyone having a lawn mower we have one lawn mower for everyone.”

Three of the villages are being looked at as a possible retirement community with the rest being built for all ages.

“I see some very strong things in the development for seniors,” Sargent said. “There will also be strong housing opportunities for single parent families and I would see strong housing opportunities for families trying to reform community. As it is, most of us don’t know who our neighbors are. We come home, drive our car in the garage and close the door.”

Sargent said the community will be largely built around individuals and the larger community.

“And these communities would not be built around the automobile,” Sargent said. “They’ll be a small part but the communities and homes will be built around the people.”

In keeping with Sargent’s work with green-living and energy efficient homes, the development will utilize many energy efficient technologies such as passive solar lighting.

The village is also expected to have a small lake and creek which will be placed in a conservation easement to be enjoyed by all residents.

Terry Jensen, a spokesperson for the development, said the developers have already received a good response from potential buyers.

“This is targeted for a real niche market,” Jensen said. “There’s a lot of community in these villages and that’s particularly important for retirement villages as well as for more and more people.”

Sargent said pricing for individual homes has not yet been set, but he estimates the homes may average around $120 per square foot.

“There’s less infrastructure involved and roughly 75 percent of the land will be left vacant for open land,” Sargent said. “With shared infrastructure there are some areas you are going to start saving money on.”

But Sargent also noted that home owners will share a portion of the ownership and cost of the common building as well.

For more information on the development, call (972) 251-1532